“It’s a huge difference,” Deleske said. “A couple of years ago, you wouldn’t find any. I dove all the way as far as Canada, specifically looking for sea stars, and found not a single one.”

Similar die-offs of starfish on the West Coast were reported in the 1970s, ’80s and ’90s, but the latest outbreak was far larger and more widespread, according to a report by researchers at the University of Santa Cruz.

“When it did (arrive), you just started to see them melt everywhere,” said Deleske. “You’d see an arm here, an arm there.”

The recovery has been promising.

Four adult sea stars, each about 7 to 8 inches long, were spotted this month at Crystal Cove State Park in Newport Beach.

“It’s a treasure we always hope to find,’ said Kaitlin Magliano, education coordinator at the Crystal Cove Conservancy.

“We lost all of them,” she said. “It’s good to see we have some surviving and thriving . Maybe the next generation will be more resilient.”

The stars aren’t out of danger yet.

The wasting syndrome never completely disappeared in Northern and Central California and it has reappeared in the Salish Sea region of Washington state, according to a November report by the University of Santa Cruz.